“Two, even if there were no government guidance on Signal usage, it doesn’t change the fact that the error that led to Signalgate is not Signal’s fault. To imply otherwise, as Trump did, is not just to deny reality—it is to engage in a dangerous, long-running propaganda campaign that could undermine the very foundations of privacy in modern American society.”
“Here are the five key pillars of actual Trumpian repression so far”.
“It’s not just that they’re hypocrites — oh, but they are! — it’s that they’re also cheap hypocrites. These people will scream about THE FIRST AMENDMENT one day, then go full-on word police the next, all because someone offered them some bitcoin and handed them a script. There’s no principle, consistency, or actual belief system — it’s just a rotating menu of outrage for hire.”
“The Looney Tunes frog was based on a true story“.
“You do work for your community because it makes the world a better place.”
“Crypto is in ascendance—and to understand what it is, and how it works, is foundational to understanding the great American scam that’s currently playing out right in front of all of us in the White House and beyond. You can’t grasp the reality of the second Trump presidency if you don’t start here.”
Please stop freaking out about the “torpedo bats”. They’re completely legal, teams other than the Yankees are using them, and we don’t have nearly enough data to know if they even make a difference. Also, you still have to, you know, actually hit the ball.
“Here’s my take: Don’t damn the torpedoes. Just let the hitters have their bulbous bats. They need all the help they can get.”
“Every bat has a sweet spot, and every batter’s goal should be to just barely miss it.”
“This story explores a slew of recent actions by the Trump administration that threaten to undermine all five pillars of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedoms concerning speech, religion, the media, the right to assembly, and the right to petition the government and seek redress for wrongs.”
“And let’s not forget: In terms of the trade deficit, there’s a service surplus. What is the service surplus made of? Tourism, education, medical care. We export that stuff, and they’re directly attacking that. They’re directly attacking all of the sources of our service surplus.”
“But over the years it will have a profoundly negative impact. You’re creating an opportunity for other countries to happily start moving in, poaching our talent and riding the escalator of scientific progress.”
RIP, Richard Chamberlain, three-time Golden Globe-winning actor best known for Dr. Kildare, The Thorn Birds, and the original miniseries of Shōgun.
“Seriously, stop doing this! Not just the press but individual people who will make the decision about the future of this country.”
“The restructuring announced last week is part of Trump, Musk, and RFK’s sustained assault on HHS and public health generally–an assault that will ensure that people lead shorter lives, that their lives will be worse, and that they will be easier pray for fraudsters and charlatans selling products with bogus health claims. The restructuring is yet another gratuitous insult to the hard-working HHS career staff who have been serving the people in extremely difficult conditions. These are highly skilled people who have sacrificed enormously of time and money so they can serve the public in some of the most essential ways, in some of the most stressful conditions imaginable. They deserve our thanks and praise, not mass firings.”
RIP, John Thornton, co-founder of the Texas Tribune. He was a Trinity alum, in the class one year ahead of me, and was the mentor for my freshman group. Good guy, down to earth, did a fine job making us feel welcome at our new school. Got to talk to him again years later at some early Trib events, still the same friendly and affable guy. I rely a lot on Trib stories here, it’s a vital addition to the media landscape. It’s also a tremendous legacy that he leaves, and I wish he had more time to enjoy it. Rest in peace, John Thornton.
“DOGE Moves to Gut CDC Work on Gun Injuries, Sexual Assault, Opioid Overdose Data, and More”.
“For decades, Democrats were told that confronting entrenched corporate power too forcefully would provoke donor flight, destabilize markets, and invite political defeat. But now they watch Trump destabilize the economy, berate institutions, undermine global stability—and encounter, remarkably, little institutional resistance. The promised backlash if Democrats pushed too hard never materializes, even as Trump tramples through the executive suites.”
Man, fuck Pat McAfee to hell and back.
A scary encounter with a foul ball at a recent Yankees game.
RIP, Val Kilmer, actor and star of many excellent movies, of which my favorite is Real Genius.
RIP, Patty Maloney, actor who may have been best known for playing Chewbacca’s son Lumpy on The Star Wars Holiday Special. A little person who was a frequent performer on various Sid & Marty Krofft shows, she was often cast alongside Billy Barty. Mark Evanier has a nice remembrance of her.
“The Trump administration’s actions here have hurt American prosperity in ways that liberals would point out—by failing to invest in public services, you produce a worse educated and less healthy population, which is a drag on economic growth—but also in ways that conservatives would point out, like “stupidly breaking the parts of the government that allow our financial markets to function smoothly with no apparent plan.” This is not “populism” any more than a bite from an alligator is a kiss. This is just nihilism.”
“The [federal] government aims to cut funding for safer streets. Here’s who would be hurt most.”
“With tariffs, Trump can exercise a kind of corruption that the country hasn’t experienced in some 150 years—a kind of control that is ultimately incompatible with both democracy and prosperity.”
“Waltz’s team set up at least 20 Signal group chats for crises across the world”. No word yet on how many journalists were accidentally added to them.
A Canadian political view of the tariff psychodrama.
“No fun in Trumpland: Video games, toys, and more take hit by tariffs”.
“This is the most consistent pattern of the Trump era, the quest to divine some underlying plan or theory when all it really is is a degenerate huckster following his gut. It’s retcon, retcon, retcon all the way down.”
“Torpedo bats are the craze right now”.